By: John Axtell Posted at: 05/19/2017 11:00 AMRAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is spending today and tomorrow in this general region.

Today, Perdue will be joined at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City by South Dakota's congressional delegation - Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds and Congresswoman Kristi Noem - to discuss USDA initiatives for bringing veterans into agriculture.

They'll hold a listening session with veterans, transitioning service members and their families to discuss entrepreneurship, employment and educational opportunities in agriculture.

Tomorrow, Nebraska U-S Senator Deb Fischer is hosting Perdue at her cattle ranch south of Valentine for what she says will be a roundtable discussion with ranchers to discuss the challenges they face as they work to feed the world.

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Fischer is excited that Perdue, a farmer-agribusinessman and former governor of Georgia, is moving to full institute a new position first proposed by former governor, senator, and ag secretary Mike Johanns - an undersecretary to oversee trade and foreign agricultural affairs.

Fischer also appreciates that Perdue helped persuade President Trump not to abandon NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and is implementing a USDA reorganization plan combining farm production and conservation agencies under a single undersecretary while having rural development programs report directly to him.